PEORIA — While snow-blind locals may be eagerly awaiting the coming spring, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association and the Federal Emergency Management Agency want everyone to be prepared for what spring can bring: severe weather.

Sunday marked the beginning of National Severe Weather Preparedness Week, when NOAA and FEMA work together to help prepare people for unpredictable and potentially devastating weather.

“Last spring, extensive flooding throughout the state of Illinois resulted in more than $166 million in federal assistance to individuals for essential home repairs and cleanup,” Mark Peterson, FEMA spokesman, said. The counties of Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford, Marshall and Fulton applied for an estimated $14.5 million after the Illinois River crested at a record of 29.35 feet in Peoria in April of 2013.

Seven months later, the Peoria area saw tornadoes slam Washington, Pekin and East Peoria. Washington was hit by the brunt of that Nov. 17 storm when a tornado swept through the town.

“We had grown men, fathers with kids, going out to see if they can go catch a peek at a tornado,” Washington Mayor Gary Manier said. After the storm destroyed or heavily damaged over 1,000 homes, Manier knows the city now takes weather more seriously.

“I think now all the men will go down and stay in their basements when those sirens go off,” he said.

“Disasters such as those two events show us how unexpected weather can be, but that doesn’t mean that individuals can’t prepare for it,” Peterson said.

To spread the word on how to prepare, NOAA and FEMA are taking to social media with hashtags and Facebook posts to promote how to prepare for weather emergencies. Their website, www.ready.gov, is dedicated to promoting three cornerstone ideas: Building a disaster supply kit, making an emergency plan for all the different serve weather events that could happen in their area, and always staying informed about emergency alerts via cellphone apps, websites, television and radio.

“I would recommend that everyone should have a weather radio,” Manier said. “After the tornado hit, we didn’t have electricity. A lot people didn’t have use of their cellphones. Those radios can keep you aware of what’s going on when everything else has failed.”

More than anything, NOAA and FEMA want people to know severe weather can strike anywhere. Many may think that weather catastrophes will never hit them, but those along the Illinois River last spring know all too well that it can. The residents of Washington also know the chaotic randomness at which severe weather can strike.

“I think we’re living proof that it can happen anywhere at anytime. To say it’ll never happen to us again, while I pray it won’t, would be foolish,” Manier said. “We’ve learned a lot, but with another tornado season just around the corner, we have to prepare.”